A Schoolhouse Confession
by DCWestby
Summary: Initially Based on Ep 16 or season 1. Tenma refused Harima's confession. Eri witnessed the whole thing, but will she act on the advantage she unknowingly has? Ch 5 based on ep 23. Completed!
1. Harima's Feelings

Disclaimer: There are those who own the series this story is based upon. Credit goes to them for their talent and skill, for without them, this story could not be realized.

**A Schoolhouse Confession: loosely on school rumble Ep 16 season 1 anime version**

The rain had certainly done a good job of getting things wet, Harima noted as he put a nearby stick into the little fire that he'd made for Tenma to warm up by. "Here, warm yourself up." He then turned and walked over to the far interior wall and frowned, his shades were really not any help in the shadows. He tugged a board loose from the ceiling to add more fuel to the fire.

Tenma herself went ahead and sat down about a meter from the fire, watching her classmate through the flames. "Tonight turned out to be a real mess, sorry." She grumped a bit, her arms accross the tops of her knees.

"Don't be, it's not your fault." Harima replied, bringing a stick [the board was too large for the fire] back to toss into the firebox.

A few feet away, beyond a wall. Eri Sawachika and Yakumo Tsukamoto were huddling, or more precisely, Eri was actively keeping an eye on things while the crimson eyed girl had her ear halfheartedly pressed against the wall. "He just sat down." Eri quietly relayed while Yakumo looked down at the floor.

"I still think we shouldn't..." Her quiet voice trailed off as she looked up to find the blonde looking sourly at her.

"Quiet... Wait!" The pigtailed blonde reattatched her eye to the hole in the wall. "Tenma is crawling toward him."

"What?! Oh sorry."

Eri concentrated on Tenma's voice, "Listen up, when you love someone there are rules to follow...." Eri smiled slightly as Tenma gave Harima a stern talking to. Then she frowned as Tenma complimented him. "...I don't want anyone's feeling to get hurt. I think you're a really sweet guy, in fact I know you are..." Eri tuned Tenma out and waited for Harima's response.

"Yes," Came Kenji's voice drifting through the air, "I understand. I promise I'll follow the rules." Eri relaxed and withdrew from the knothole to face her scavenger hunt partner.

"You don't need to worry, Tenma's got him in line." Eri smiled slightly as the two of them quietly sat in the darkness with only a small amount of firelight coming from the room beyond the wall.

Then Eri heard a tiny "Chff." sound and looked through the knothole again.

On the lit side of the wall, Harima had a problem, make that 2 main problems. Tenma was shivering and needed to change clothes, but... He looked around the room and spotted the grungy curtains. _"Guess those will have to do... Now for the hard part..."_ He suddenly stood, the movement drawing not only Tenma's undivided attention, but the blonde's peeping from the other room. "Get your clothes off right now." He said in a tone that pretty much forbade arguement, after he himself had taken his shirt off.

Tenma blinked a bit and shrank from her classmate a bit.

In the other room, Eri gasped and nudged the flashlight out of her lap as she hurriedly looked through the hole to see Harima's bare back, and withdrew to look at Yakumo in shock. She mime-whispered to Yakuno, since it was far too risky for a real conversation due to Harima possibly hearing them. "We should go over and stop this-"

Yakumo shook her head a bit, then hearing Tenma's voice, went silent.

"You can't be serious."

Eri nodded slowly, "I'm sure he's dead serious. Harima is nothing but a filthy minded two timing perverted sleeze-" She growled darkly, seeing Yakumo's doubt, she explained further. "I've never told anyone, but he made a pass at me back at the beachclub and he wasn't wearing any pants."

"That's awful." Yakumo replied. "I'll go stop him."

Eri grabbed Yakumo's arm, "Wait a second. Tenma's smart enough to see through that creep. She'll likely punch him and give him a swift kick in the pants."

Tenma proved Eri wrong however, "I've got them off Harima."

"What!?" Eri pressed her face against the wall as her eye saw disbelievingly as Tenma had indeed done the unthinkable and followed what Eri thought was a very perverted request from Harima. "Is she crazy?!"

Harima's voice again floated through the wall to them, "Pretty lucky I found these old curtains eh? Granted they don't smell too good, but they will keep us warm until our clothes dry out."

Eri's face went crimson in embarrassment, sitting back from the wall she looked at Yakumo. "This doesn't prove anything, He still can't be trusted."

Then Tenma's voice followed on the heals of Eri's comment. "You know, we do look pretty goofy in these things, but if it will keep us from getting sick..."

"You really think so?" Yakumo asked, just before both girls sneezed.

In the other room, Tenma decided to ask a question of Harima. "So, who's the girl that you like? Come on, don't be shy, you can tell me."

[From here on this diverges a bit]

Kenji Harima gazed over the fire at the girl who'd pretty much single-handedly inspired him to go back to school nervously, "Oh, the girl I like, right." He chuckled a bit, attempting to stall for time.

In the watcher's room, the girls, now changed into curtains, watched and listened. "Stop laughing and get to the point."

Within Kenji's head, there was a battle going on between the "Tell her now" side and the "Some other time"ers. _"What should I do? We're alone now, no distractions..."_ Externally, he made nearly nonsensical sentences that were pretty much nervous giberish. "Uh, well I uh..."

"Hey, please tell me, stop beating around the bush and tell me who you are in love with!"

On the other side of the wall, Eri was upset enough that she had dug her nails into the wall and slowly sank down to the floor her nails leaving deep imprints in the wood. "She's acting like a nine year old!"

At the firelit room, Harima finally broke and said in a small shivering voice, "..Its you Tenma..."

He frowned at himself, _"Aw crap..."_

Tenma knew she'd heard an answer somewhere in there, but couldn't quite make it out. "Whaaat?" She asked in a childlike voice. "I couldn't hear you! Its ok, just whisper it in my ear then." Tenma made to get up, but Harima's voice cleared up.

"No, w-wait Tenma." Kenji had finally decided to bite the bullet and be it. His face firmed up and he straightened up his back as he gazed over the fire at her. "I'll tell you who I love Tenma. Just promise me you'll listen to the entire story."

Tenma sat back down after she'd come around to his side of the fire. "Ok, I promise."

On the other side of the wall, Eri and Yakumo each looked at the floor, ears glued to the sounds of next door. Although the two probably never would admit it, hearing who an attractive guy loved was certainly important information.

Harima took a deep breath and looked at Tenma as he started speaking. "As I said earlier, I love you Tenma Tsukamoto. First let me explain something to you. I was walking one day and I saw a girl surrounded by some guys. Long story short, I rescued you that day. I stayed by your side as you slept, watching over you until you woke up. It was that day I first fell for you." Harima looked to the one he loved and saw she was puzzled, "Yes?"

"I don't seem to remember you..." Her eyes turned back to him.

He nodded, "I guess that's only to be expected." He took a deep breath, _"I hope this doesn't blow up on me." _"When you woke up, well, after we parted ways that day. I decided to start wearing shades and grew a beard." Kenji looked directly in her eyes. "Tenma, I've loved you ever since that day-"

Tenma glanced down momentarily, then looked back up. "M-may I see your eyes Harima?"

Kenji slowly lifted a hand to his shades, the prized shades that he'd worn everywhere, and slowly slid them down his nose and off his head. "Alright Tenma." He watched her face as he also removed the hairpiece he used.

Tenma put her hand under chin, "You seem familiar... You look like that Vega guy on tv..."

Harima was taken back by this, "You mean Vegeta?"

"Yeah! Thats the one!" She giggled before settling down and looking up at him. "I'm touched by how you feel about me Harima, but I love Karasuma. I still enjoy having your friendship though." She paused and tilted her head a bit, "Kenji, if I may call you that,-"

"Sure."

"-You aren't going to school just because of me are you?"

"Um..." _"What the, how'd she figure that out?"_

Her voice took on a small bit of disappointment, "Cause if you are, I'm going to be very disappointed in you. There are others out there besides me Harima, Mikoto and Eri for instance."

In the other room, Eri could be comparable to a stopsign with a small difference. Stop signs could not talk. "That.... Tenmaaa!" The blonde growled.

Harima blinked and noticed the fire was dying. He looked outside and saw that it was still raining. "Got to get more wood."

At that point, Eri and Yakumo moved away from the wall.

"Tenma, it hurts." He muttered loud enough for her to hear, moving around the room, his shades on the top of his head as he looked for wood to no avail. "Guess I'll need to take a chunk out of that wall."

Tenma watched as Harima kicked a hole in the nearby wall, thinking about his face. It would take her a while.

The two jumped as a large piece of wood flew out from the wall, unfortunately, this action put a section of the curtain that Eri was wearing in sight of the deliquent turned temporary woodsman.

Harima grabbed the fallen cloth before Eri could pull it back, "Hey, something else that burns, Alright!" He tugged on it. "Hmm, looks like its a mouse, a big one."

Eri started as she felt the tug on her current forced wardrobe, "Hold my feet the best you can-Ack!"

Harima tugged harder, "Gotta be a rat, a really big rat." He braced against the wall and pulled hard.

A squeak of suprise from Yakumo issued as she was pulled off her feet and onto the floor.

Harima looked at the unexpected passenger that had come along with the cloth and swallowed, reading the blonde's eyes _"So, I'm a rat now am I?"_ He stood up, then bent and pushed her back into the hole in the wall, neatly rolled up the loose portion of curtain, placing that by Eri. Then took a couple loose boards and nailed them over the hole.

Eri slowly sat up with a healthy blush still adorning her face. Yakumo came up beside her, "You really shouldn't have been eavesdropping like that, that was karma getting you back-"

"Its not fair! You were listening too!"

E.4.N

I might continue this, because Eri has not confessed yet. But will Harima's accidental confession to Eri come back to haunt him? How will his classmates react to this former deliquent wearing no shades? For that matter, how will the females react? Suggestions and feedback are definately appreciated and encouraged.


	2. Spring into Softball

Disclaimer: If one really needs the disclaimer, please look at the first chapter. Thank you.

Loosely based on the hotsprings scene in the extra episode 1 and the softball game from episode 5.

On the way home from the scavenger hunt, most of the group opted to stay at the hot springs. Only Akira and Yakumo decided to go on home. We join the group out back.

_Eri's Viewpoint_

The time spent on this trip was fun after all. Even if you count the time spent in that old building because of the rain. On this trip I've learned a fair amount about Harima, though I will never openly admit it. He is a very kind hearted person, and he treated Tenma with nobleness.

Looking back on the memories of the first time I really noticed him, I have to smile because it was gallant of him to share his umbrella with me that day. To this day, I have no idea how he was close by. I wonder if he followed me that day? Oh well, in the end it was sweet of him to walk with me that day.

Last night was the first time I saw his eyes, and I have to admit that he is quite hot. Yet, the main point of last night was his confession to Tenma, and even though she turned him down like I knew she would. She encouraged him to stay in school for himself. I might not have liked her saying I was available, but she is correct really. I do like him, but its not something I can admit to. Well, Tenma's waiting impatiently on me, so I'll end this for now.

_Harima's Viewpoint_

I loved her. Why?! I don't need to ask why really, I know she had her eyes on someone else. What really hurts is her deduction that I was going to school to be by her, but as I think about it. What she said does make sense. It is time for me to move on from her.

Here at the hot springs right now, it is a really nice place. One challenge Tenma gave me before we parted ways at the campsite last night was to not wear my shades for a few days. It does seem brighter out there, the colors are more vivid, Eri's eyes look pretty.... Woah, back up.

Maybe I should explain to give a better picture. Imidori was attempting to find a hole in the wall and Haruki was trying to stop him. Somehow I ended up also at the wall, which due to the others scuffling eventually dumped those two into the drink and I..... stared into amber pits of promised pain.

She was several meters from me though, and both Tenma and Mikoto had their backs to me, which was a good thing. The next thing I know, my towel came undone and I was unintentionally flashing the blonde again. Slowly I repositioned the wall as it had been before and slunk into the water, somehow, I knew that the blonde would enact her revenge on me.

Somehow, sometime.

_Eri's Viewpoint_

I can't believe what I saw again. Privately, Harima has the hottest body, but I will never tell any one about that. I would never hear the end of it from Mikoto if I told her about it. I'm simply not going to think about it.

In the end though, I had a good time there. Maybe I'll go to the hot springs more often.

_General Viewpoint_

A few days later, school started. More accurately, Tani-sensei started it with another teamwork exercise, "Softball". This time, it would be different however, as it was decided that someone different would pitch every three innings, or longer if they looked like they were doing really good.

Harima watched as the opposing side made shoddy work of the pitcher for his side and shook his head. He knew he'd be pitching next inning, but first he had to watch as the blonde one decimated the first three hitters. He frowned and took off his shades, he considered the eyewear he'd worn for a long time, then placed the sunglasses on the bench.

"Harima, we're defending now and you're pitching." Hanai stated, "Imadori's pitching is hopeless."

Kenji nodded and took to the field. Classmates on the other side watched as Harima left his shades behind and whispered in fear and awe as he stretched a bit before looking towards the plate.

The opposing side had decided to place the more athletic girls strategically. This meant that while Suou had been last at bat, Sawachika was first at bat. Meaning that she was facing Harima, literally.

_Harima's Viewpoint_

Kenji gazed toward the plate, or more precisely, the golden eyes of his adversary. _"I know she wants a fastball. Well then, first pitch..."_ He wound up to pitch and launched a screaming missile toward the catcher. The ball was perfectly fired to fool the hitter into swinging.

_Eri's Viewpoint_

Eri swung at the ball and... hit air. She glared at the tall dark adversary, and prepared for the next pitch.

To those watching the main stage, it seemed that powerful energies were clashing between the pitcher and the batter. Harima's eyes could be scary, and to those watching, some were downright terrified of the aura he was exuding.

Eri was also oddly terrifying in her own way. She was used to having things handed to her, and was finding Harima's pitching to be unacceptable. She was beautiful and deserved her own way.

Whoosh-thud.

"Strike two!"

The blonde grit her teeth and signaled for the next one.

Harima obligued her and pitched.

Clink.

Eri had gone for a bunt instead and made it to first. She also would've attempted to go for second, but Harima already had the ball in his hand and was watching her like a hawk.

_Harima's Viewpoint_

_"I cannot allow Sawachika to advance." _Kenji told himself as he faced... _"Tenma... My heart used to be under your spell, but I know now that it is not to be. Therefore, NO FAVORITISM!"_ He wound up for his fastest pitch yet. From the game in the past, he knew she would have a hard time with it.

He fired the ball at the plate. A few seconds later, Tenma swung and missed, and kept spinning.

Harima recieved the ball back and fired a pitch again. Strike two.

Tenma was still spinning like a top. Harima frowned as he wound up for his last pitch, _"Why did I fall for that girl anyway? Maybe it was because of her cheerfulness...."_ He fired the last pitch.

Strike three, "Can I get a new glove first?" Apparently, Harima's method of pitching was wearing the glove out rather fast.

Harima nodded slowly, "Sure." He looked at the on deck area to see who was next up. A girl with rather tanned skin and blondish hair swung practice swings there._ "Hmm, now whose she? I don't remember her name... Oh well, it doesn't matter."_ He threw the ball to the returning Nishamoto. "Welcome back." He caught the return throw and walked back to the mound, signalling he was ready.

As Mihara stepped up to the plate, Harima's tactical mind began ticking. _"Ok, after the tanned blonde is Ichijou and then Takano, hmm, need to avoid Takano, may possible walk her and then strike the next one out." _He wound up and pitched a sinker.

Mihara swung and fouled, strike one.

Harima had watched baseball in the past while he was an official deliquent. Now that watching paid off as he used knowledge of that sport in this very similar arena. He wound up for the next pitch and then fired a curveball.

Mihara swung and missed, strike two.

"Come Mihara, you can do it!" Came a call from the bench, at which Kenji switched into fearsome mode and wound his arm three revolutions before releasing the mother of all fastballs.

Swish went Mihara's bat.

"Oof." went the catcher as he'd been pushed back a few inches.

Strike three.

_General Viewpoint_

Ichijou came next only to be struck out and the inning was over.

As much as Eri got on the bases, Harima never allowed any follow up hits, and soon it was the last inning, bases loaded like the first game had been.

Harima stared down to the mound where Sawachika stood. _"Alright, I'm gonna hit this ball out of here."_

Sawachika on the other hand, simply glared at him and began winding up.

Harima frowned as he noticed that she was really winding up, _"Hope she doesn't get carried away..."_

Eri launched the pitch.

Harima swung and connected. The ball was driven... right into Eri's open glove. Because of momentum however, the force of the impact knocked Eri off balance and she dropped the ball. Allowing a run to score and thus ending the game.

E.4.N

The note from the author: Yes, I ended it abruptly I know, but there is more social and romantic stuff coming next chapter. This was the way I decided to go, replacing the animals with another softball game. I apologize if my writing didn't seem very refined this time, but still I do appreciate the reviews and feedback. So do R n R!


	3. Training Time and Hair of the Ribbon

Something about Jin Kobayashi owning School rumble as well as others owning the anime series based off the books. Dont own a thing.

Tani-sensei had just returned from the faculty room after having spoken with his fellow co-worker of 2-D. He was not happy, because the guy had eaten the cookies he had recieved from the new school nurse. He turned and faced the class from the podium, he sighed and raising his hands up, brought them down on the podium with a loud crash. The class went silent as the sensei extruded an aura of anger and determination. "Class, the current schedule is no longer valid. 2-D has challenged us, and in order for us to obliterate them, all of you will train." His glasses gleamed in the light, "Now go get changed, training starts shortly."

An hour later, in the auxilary gymnasium, the sensei stood beside a portable writing board that had the words "Cooperation Exercises". After the entire class had arrived, and the entrances closed, the sensei began explaining.

"Hear me out on this class. I know we have great athletes here, and I appreciate that which we have, but what we do not have is a cooperative spirit. We lack the spirit of respect towards each other. This is what we muist work on. Therefore, I have assigned each of you partners to work with on various tasks. First task, two on two basketball with heavy emphasis on passing and teamwork...."

After Tani-sensei finished speaking, he watched as the assigned students begrudgingly went about their tasks. Ten minutes later, he frowned at the state of things. Certain teams on the field weren't working out, "Sawachika and Harima, it is time for your next task, if the both of you will please approach me..."

The mentioned two slowly approached their sensei, "What's up Sensei?" Harima spoke first. Eri simply tilted her head inquisitively.

Tani-sensei handed them a paper. "This is a scenario, feel free to figure it out together. You have the rest of the hour."

The two went over to the side with their assignment, Eri held out her hand. "Can I see what it says?"

Harima took off his shades as he wordlessly handed her the paper, which read:

**A Must-do Scenario for Aspiring Business People,**

_**The company you own is doing well. Well enough that you can merge with a competitor. However, the particular company you wish to aquire refuses your merger attempts. What option would you take to force that company into your hands?**_

Harima pondered this, "Ojou, would you have any ideas about this sort of thing?"

Sawachika looked up frowning, "I might have a little idea, mostly from overhearing my parents. All I know is something to do with hostile takeovers."

Haarima stroked his beard in thought, "Hostile takeovers....." He pictured the publishing company building under seige with soldiers pouring into the place. A chibi version of himself standing on the roof victoriously.

Eri pictured a chibi self glaring everyone into submission. "So what's your idea Harima?"

"...I'd kill them all...." He muttered before looking over at Eri, "What? That's my definition of a hostile takeover... What's yours?"

Eri glared at him a moment, "I'd glare them into submission."

Harima knew he shouldn't, but he started chuckling, which became full laughter. "G-glare thwem into s-submission? bahaha-ulp!"

Sawachika glared at him and poked his chest, "Got any better ideas?"

A now rather docile Kenji shook his head, "No mistress!"

Eri growled at him, "Shut up Harima."

They sat in silence for a while, just watching their classmates shoot hoops. The unshaded eyes of Kenji glanced over at the blonde next to him as he thought in silence for a while. _"Maybe Tenma's right about Ojou. She is pretty after all, but I don't get why we always seem to get on eachother's nerves so much." _Kenji looked up at the others he knew, and pondered his memories. _Tenma... How could I have been so blind? How could I not have realized that you never liked me in that way?"_ Harima sighed out loud a bit, causing his companion to look at him. "Ojou," He quietly intoned, "I might have the answer to that question the sensei gave us."

Eri nodded, "Go on."

"Glaring them down with guns."

Sawachika thought about that for a moment. It did seem like a good idea, she thought about it some more before finally nodding. "That seems workable enough." The silence drove a wedge between them again as Eri returned to her inner thoughts. _"Its interesting, the first time we really met, all he did was walk me a ways under his umbrella. There was no pretense there at all, he was straight forward as I've ever seen. The next time we crossed paths...." _A faint tinge of pink graced her cheeks, _"I wonder about his feelings now... What am I thinking? I was there when he confessed to Tenma, and I know he's still hurting after that. Maybe I should apologize for the beach hotel incident..." _She glanced over at him, nearly catching him looking at her if she hadn't had her eyes half closed. "Hey H-Harima, I just want to say I'm sorry for the beach hotel thing." She hoped he got what she meant, if she had to explain further, she would be blushing noticably.

Harima was taken offguard by this and blushed a bit himself once he got her meaning, "Ah, heh. That's in the past Ojou, but you're forgiven." Kenji was fairly amused that Ojou would actually apologize for something, but her doing so did go a long way in his book.

In the meantime, in the field of the gym floor. Mikoto had glanced more then once at Eri talking with Harima, thinking of planning something reguarding the two. She turned to Akira, who shook her head. "Leave them be Mikoto."

"How could you tell what I was thinking Akira?"

"I just can." Came the enigmatic reply.

Soon enough, Tani-sensei approached them. "Figured it out yet?"

Eri shrugged, "Somewhat, but storming their headquarters glaring threateningly while waving guns around seemed like the best idea. Harima came up with the guns and I came up with the glaring." She handed Tani-sensei the paper.

The sensei nodded slowly, "I.... see. That's a literal way to put it, hostile takeover indeed." He took the paper and walked away. After he reached the center of the room, he blew a whistle to single an activity shift, "Ok class, Its time for you to know what's coming up at the meet, gather round please..."

From Harima's standpoint, the training was a good idea. He understood the meaning of being ready for a competition and therefore appreciated the homeroom sensei's sense. The day wore on while him and the rest of his team did a great deal of warm up exercises to stretch and limber up muscles that might be needed in that particular competition. Largely, he had remained on good terms with Sawachika throughout the rest of the day. In his estimation, the viewpoint on the rich girl had changed for the positive.

On the other side of the viewpoint category, Eri was having a difficult time restraining herself from throttling Tenma. While within her mind, Eri thought that the day was certainly looking brighter for her, she really wished that her friends wouldn't tease her so much. She decided to have her bulter pick her up instead of walking with her friends. The embarrassment factor in her opinion had already reached intolerable levels for this day alone.

Later, after bidding her friend's goodbye, she watched buildings go by as she pondered one Kanji Harima. Despite his initial tendencies to push all her buttons in such a way that the initial conversation would likely be hostile. Once she got past that and forced herself to not reply in such a manner, the atmosphere mellowed out between them. It had been a good day.

Harima yawned and slowly rose out of bed after a so-so night's sleep. School, he reflected, was an abhorant pain. He went to the bathroom and felt somewhat better after a shower. Slowly, the memories of yesterday returned to him while he ate breakfast. Tomorrow was the athletic meet.....

In the classroom an hour later, Harima was sleeping while only a few classmates remained in the room. Specifically Eri, Akira, Mikoto and Tenma were playing around with the pom-poms. Tenma and Mikoto had just finished a practice cheer round when Tenma decided to look at what Akira and Eri were up to. "Hey Eri, Whatcha doin?"

Eri had just put a pom-pom on Akira's head and started trimming the latter's hair to get the right look, on occassion brandishing her barber's scissors as she made adjustments the pom-pom so that it would cover Akira's hair completely. After a minute of this, Eri stepped back and let the other girls have a look at her handiwork.

Both girls were very impressed with the results, Tenma spoke first, exclaiming, "Wow! Akira, you look hot!"

"Where did you learn to do that Eri?" Mikoto asked, pleasantly suprised.

Eri smirked, "I dunno, I'm just that brilliant." And with that, she unfolded her right arm, her right hand still holding the scissors, and proceeded to let a very small giggle erupt before the sound of the scissors snipping something quickly brought the group to a halt.

Eri glanced out of the corner of her eyes and internally cursed as what she saw was very clear. The scissors that were in her hand hand plainly cut Harima's growing beard mostly off. She quickly drew back from the sleeping Harima, "AAHH!"

"Whoops." Offered Akira unhelpfully while the other two moved closer to see what was going on.

"WAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Then they screamed at the atrocity too.

Tenma, being the great genius she is, added, "His whiskers!!" Before being shushed by Eri as they saw Harima rising from his desk turned makeshift pillow.

Akira put the remains Harima's beard behind Mikoto's hair as a makeshift ponytail in the hope that Harima wouldn't notice.

Thusly causing Harima to start waking up. He'd been dreaming that Eri was giving him a haircut oddly enough. Kenji looked at the girls blearily, "Stop screamin' so loud will ya?" He muttered before attempting to regain blissful unconsciousness.

"Close one."

Mikoto frowned at the beard that Akira held, "He's gonna be so mad."

Tenma confronted a rather apprehensively agitated Eri. "I can't believe you did that, what the heck is wrong with you?!"

"It was an accident!" Eri defended herself. Really it had been an honest mistake on her part, she just hadn't been watching where the scissors were going.

Mioto looked over at Eri and Tenma, "Okay, we've got a serious problem, Harima seemed like he was really attatched to that beard [indeed]."

Akira was inspecting the beard in her hand, "He was just telling me about how much he strokes it..."

Tenma had decided to tie a pink ribbon to Harima's beard, what remained on his face that is. "I think he looks really cute like this." She said , wiping her forehead with the back of her hand.

Mikoto disagreed, "To me, he looks kinda creepy, somehow I don't think cute is the right word to describe how he looks."

Eri composed herself and looked at Harima before speaking, "Hey Tenma, when he wakes again, can you tell him to meet me on the roof? I need time to sort my apology out to him." She looked rather introspective as she went towards the door, "On second thought, don't tell him. He'll likely come up to the roof anyway." She rectified her statement before she left the room.

On exiting the room, Eri made her way to the fourth floor female restroom and shut the door behind her, sighing quietly. _"Why did that happen? I certainly didn't mean for it to be like this. Ugh, I should've paid more attention to what I was doing! Argh, Now I'm stuck owing Hige an apology." _She walked over to the mirror and examined what she saw critically. _"Why do I still wear my hair in double pony tails anyway? Looks like a little kid in a way, ugh. Well, If I'm going to apologize, I should look a little different." _She rearranged her hair in a single ponytail and examined herself again. _"Better, I look more mature now." _Suddenly the memory of Harima's first, albeit mistaken, confession popped into her head and she stiffened. _"Why does this pop up now? Do I- No! I must apologize first, no matter what happens, I want him to accept my apology."_ She firmed up, her eyes determined, and headed for the roof.

Harima woke up a bit after it had gone all quiet in the classroom and looked around, "Huh, nobody here." He stood up and stretched a bit, "Oh well, can't be here....all...day?" His voice trailed off as his fingers found the ribbon tied to his beard, his shortened beard. "WHAT THE HELL?!" He frowned and started stalking toward the roof, simmering in his mind as his mind was a whirlwind of thoughts.

_"What the hell happened while I was asleep? And what kinda dreams were those anyway? Bearded girls? since when are..... Wait a minute, one of those girls likely had something to do with this!" _He growled as he slammed the door open to the roof. _"Who cut off my beard?" _He walked over to the fence and sat down in a sulking position. A few minutes later he frowned and lay back on the roof, staring despondently at the sky. Thinking quietly, he took off his shades and looked at them. _"Are these shades really necessary? Is my beard really that necessary? It seems that these two things are connected with Tenma, who refused me a couple weeks ago. She even said for me to drop the shades-"_

Eri quietly closed the roof entrance door and turned to just observe the only guy who had made an impact on her heart. She reminded herself of her purpose and quietly approached Kenji, who apparently hadn't heard the roof door.

_"-and possibly this beard." _He turned the shades over and over in a hand, remember something that Tenma had told him on their way from the old schoolhouse. _"Harima, please remember that to a girl, your appearance is not the most important thing, but its how act. How you carry and handle yourself around others and how you treat those around you. Remember this every day you're at school. girls chiefly look at the personality of a guy, You don't need to hide your face from those around you. Please listen to me Harima, take off your shades that blind you from the real beauty around you." _

Harima sighed softly and reflected on what Tenma had said and asked himself outloud, not realizing he now had company. "Have I used these shades and my beard as masks for myself?" He opened his eyes and beheld a blonde pony tail to his left, "Sawachika-san, what are you doing here?"

Slowly, the head rotated until sad amber eyes met his. "Hi-Harima-kun... First of all, I want to apologize for accidently cutting your beard off. I wasn't watching what I was doing and I was being careless." Eri took a deep breath, "This is hard for me to do, apologizing is horrible, but what I did to you was even worse-"

He softly spoke, cutting her off as he sat up. She noticed that he left his shades off but remained quiet as he looked at her. "Eri-san, your apology is accepted." He looked out toward the skyline continuing to speak, "Once I got spoken with about changing my life for the better. Its ironic that Tenma-san was the one who first told me and got me thinking about change."

He turned and smiled genuinely at her, unaware of the effect his smile had on her. "Today, you helped me decide to make the change complete."

Eri now had most of her attention on him as he spoke, not realizing that her friends were by the roof door.

"I was initially very upset with the one who had chopped my beard, but something Tenma-san told me a while back returned to me. And it has occurred to me that for my future, my beard and shades must go." He finished, looking toward her for her response.

Eri blinked and stood up, "Change is hard. Having to apologize to you was really hard Harima-kun. Yet I'm glad I did it." She paused and thought a bit, only to get sidelined by a very off the wall question.

"I wonder if girls like clean shaven guys or bearded types?"

Eri smirked, "I can tell you what I prefer Harima-kun, and thats clean shaven."

Harima blushed lightly, _"I can't believe I'm actually doing this...."_ he thought as he took out a shaver blade and disposed of the rest of his beard. "How do I look?" He asked as he unknowingly presented hhis profile to the three quiet audience members.

Eri smiled a truly genuine blinding light kind of smile towards Harima, "Better."

Harima was blinded by the light in Eri's smile, _"Wow, that's a hellava smile." _In a small section of Harima's heart, a Sawachika statue began to be built to replace the rubble that once had been the Tenma shrine.

E.4.N

Well, this is my take on a Harima that gets both refused by Tenma and yet encouraged by Tenma as well. I do acknowledge that this Harima is getting out of character a bit, but that is due to Tenma's words that encouraged him to be himself and to grow. In the series, I believe that Kenji makes the most changes as far as general personal growth and realizing change. Anyways, stay tuned for the next chapter. Hope you enjoy and don't be afraid to leave feedback.


	4. Hair and Athletic Events

Don't own School Rumble.

Harima nodded, "Clean shaven is the best way to go really." It was then that he spotted the three lurkers, "Oh Tenma, how are you?" Inside Harima was astonished, _"Wow, I spoke her name without any sort of feeling attatched, weird."_

"Harima-kun, if clean shaven is the way you want it. Please allow me to cut your hair for you." Eri smiled again at Kenji, who looked towards her and nodded slowly as if coming out of a dream.

Harima sank to his knees as he recalled the dream he had earlier that day, feeling his head become lighter as more hair was removed. This was about as great of change as he had ever gone through in his life so far, and he forced himself to be calm as Eri finished shaving his head bare.

In the meantime, Tenma had watched in astonishment as Harima was changed. "I'm fine Harima... Nice job Eri, he looks good like that."

Mikoto nodded, "Yes, he does look good Eri, you did a great job on him."

Eri's cheeks tinted pink with the praise, "Thank you." She looked at Kenji again and smiled. He really did look handsome without his hair. She never even noticed that deep within her own heart, a shrine for Harima was under construction.

Later that afternoon, Kenji was in the junior editor's office discussing his manuscript with the junior editor.

"One of the problems I see Harima-san, is that you keep changing things. It would work out much better for the both of us if you would stick to a layout."

"Really?"

The man nodded, "Yes, generally Manga characters are always constant, very little change of feature or look in general. Yours, while its not finished yet, does change and shift a little much. We can run a test run with the first 30 pages and see, but if you could stick to your story here. It would be best for you in the long run."

Harima thought about that for a while, "Huh, well, I will continue this story then. Thank you for your time sir." Harima stood and collected part of the manuscript before bowing.

"You're welcome, and by the way, I like your hat, its a rare find here. Keep up the good work Harima-san."

Harima walked out of the publishing company and decided to head to his cousin's place for now. Before he got too far however, his cell phone rang. "Yo, this Harima."

"Hey, this is Takano. I hate doing this, but Haruki would like to know if you want to sign up for the track relay team-"

"Yes." Answered Harima without a second thought, "I'll be there."

"Arigato Harima-san, bye."

Harima continued to his cousin's, where he also called home. He needed to practice stretching and exercising even with all the walking he did.

Accross town, in her family's mansion, Eri was in the exercise room also stretching, not only her muscles, but her thoughts as well. _"Ok, gotta focus on tomorrow. I know Harima-kun will be on my team for that crazy horse event. I wish I could see what he was thinking, hell, I wish I could tell him that I'm counting on him for tomorrow." _She switched to another leg stretching exercise as she continued to think. _"Its ironic that I have Tenma to thank for Harima-kun's willingness to talk more with me. Both me and him communicate so well, its scary. While he may unintentionally push my buttons, there's no duplicity or fakery between us. We're on the same level, if he says something to me, I respond. But..."_

She continued with her internal thinking, trying to avoid the core issue of whether or not she loved him. Her attention had to be on the athletic meet tomorrow, but after her workout that evening, thoughts drifted back towards the city and one guy who held the key unknowingly to her heart. "Harima-kun, sleep well." She whispered before adjourning for the night.

Harima slept uneasily, his dreams constantly shifting faces. The nature of the dreams he was having tonight reminded him in some part of his mind of a gambling wheel. Eventually the wheel stopped on Sawachika and the dream.....

_Dream Kenji raised his eyebrows as he recognized the person accross from him, one Eri Sawachika. His dream-memory adding that she was going to be Eri Harima soon. As to the dream scene, she had just found his comic he was finishing, and was reading through it._

_After dream-Eri was finished, her golden eyes pierced into his own as she gently stated, "Confess your love again my dear Kenji-kun." The dream-Eri stood, and offered her hand to him, at which point, the dream suddenly faded out._

Harima sat up in bed, "What the hell was that about?" He turned over on to his side thinking, _"That was so completely out of left field, oh man what a weird dream." _He turned over towards the wall and tried to go to sleep, but found that he kept seeing Sawachika's face just behind his eyelids. With a sigh, he resigned himself to a troubled night.

The next day was bright and sunny with few clouds. Yagami High was the center of attention today, at least for the students that went there. The athletic track was packed with students from mostly the first year section of school who were the audience on the outer limits of the track area while the infield of the track was filled with students from second year.

The speech was nothing special as it was Kotou-Sensei of 2-D who gave it. The only notable part of the opening ceremony was the introduction of the new school nurse. Harima frowned as nearly the entire male population of the field let out a cheer. "Jerks, all of them." He muttered sotto voiced, Let's get on with it!"

The first event involved attempting to get balls into baskets, the key word here was attempting, as most opted to use said balls for throwing at the opposition. The females were relegated to the cheerleader section for the time being, some were not too pleased with the stipulated cheertime however. This was very evident in class 2-Ds Lala Gonzales, who was widely known to enjoy action more than the sidelines.

2-C or not 2-D, that seemed to be the way of things in the first few events, with 2-C dominating most of the events. There were also events where no quarter was given or taken, like the female tug of war event between 2-C and 2-D, no one won that one.

After that, an outdoor picnic sort of lunch was allowed. Some however found the pom-poms more interesting than being social and eating with aquaintances while some wondered where those others were.

_Joint Random Eri and Harima Viewpoints_

Eri held the paper with the upcoming event on it, privately she was a bit trepedative about being teamed with not only Harima-kun but one of the class perverts as well. As she told Mikoto before she went to join her team, "Look, I'm fine with how things are ok? Don't worry about it."

Harima wore a hat with a dragon on the front of it today. He nodded to Eri as she approached, "Hey."

Eri looked up at him, not really having realized how tall he actually was. _"Wow, He's almost a head taller than me." _"Harima-kun, could you bend a bit please?"

Harima softened his stance and obligued her, "Sure Ojou."

Eri stepped onto his outstretched hand and held on to his shoulders for stability as he lifted her up a bit. She could feel the coiled muscles under the shirt he wore as he directed the othe two guys to assume their support roles. She swung her other leg over the makeshift mount feeling Harima's other hand catch and support her right foot, shifting her balance a little as the other two support guys brought their free hands to also lend in support of Sawachika's feet. With Eri now properly supported, [most of her weight was on Harima] they went off to join the rest of 2-C.

Eri looked around her was they moved to the starting position. Mikoto was with Asou, Suga and Another Guy. Tenma was escorted by Nara and two others. Akira was heralded by Nishimoto and supported by some other male classmates. Ichijou was guarded in front by the raging bull Hanai and augmented with 2 nameless guys.

Eri leaned down a bit toward Harima, "Let's do our best okay? We need to stay serious here." She patted his hat a bit and glared at the back of his head. She knew he wasn't entirely used to not having any hair on his head, but she reasoned, it was the principle of the thing. They both needed to be strong here and work together as a team. "Let's go for the win alright?"

Harima frowned a little at Eri's comment, but kept quiet. _"She is right after all, we need to be a team and work together."_ He joined the throng lined up and await the signal.

Karasuma blew into a large seashell to start the event, deafening the starter gun guy. and the two sides rushed to the center. Guys strained against one another as the girls tried to fight and defend their headbands. Others did sideswipes and drive-by grabbing of headbands.

After that first charge, the game was narrowed down to members of either 2-C or 2-D actively going for points. Until 2-A and B decided to concentrate their efforts on mainly 2-C.

Ichijou scaled the pyramid of 2-A to collect all the headbands from there, after that, the pyramid caved in on itself after some idiot left his spot and therefore created a pileup of good sized proportions.

Next was 2-B's three fat guys and their rider. Suou tackled this problem using her head, she had Asou kick out one of the fat guys lega and then rammed them again to successfully unhorse that rider.

In the meantime, the two main focuses of our story were wandering hither and yon due to Harima's fear losing his hat. Harima knew that he really had nothing to fear but he was still not used to having bare head. A few seconds later, the school nurse encouraged Harima and Yoshidyama decided to throw out a comment that was curtailed by Harima's retort, "Shut it and get your hair harvested!"

Eri had been asking him to get reinvolved in the event repeatedly before the school nurse had gotten his attention. She frowned forcefully grabbed the top of his head, "Right turn." Then she forced his head the other way, "Left turn."

Harima growled to her begrudgingly, "Alright Ojou, you're the boss, I get it."

"Glad to hear it. Now let's get back into the fray!" Eri growled when all of the sudden, her just spoken words became a moot point.

Two nameless teams suddenly came at them in a pincer attack. One lead guy got kicked in the face by Harima while Eri evaded and captured one of the girls' headbands. "Get lost losers!" was Harima's reply. Outward arrogance battled imaged arrogance as Harima and Eri continued to bicker until Eri sighed and bent her head down to whisper in his ear.

"Listen Harima-kun, let's stop wandering all over okay? Please, let's stop arguing as its pointless alright?" Silence was the answer she got back, with a slight nod to show that he had heard her.

It wasn't too long before another "final attempt" weapon by one of the competing classes was realized in the hulking form of a bulky guy. named Tanoshi. Who generally was someone who relied on his bulk and size for easy going. It was not going to be a cakewalk to destablize this guy.

After the first try at a kick, Harima knew he had to think fast and used the opportunity to swing out very wide while he explained his plan to Eri. "Ok Sawachika, follow what I tell you to do....."

Eri grimaced and gave a slight nod, "Let's do it." She jumped up and prepared for a kick as Harima raced the team in and also kicked at the same time, resulting in Tanoshi slowly starting to topple over.

"If I'm going down, you're comin along with me!" Tanoshi grabbed at Harima's hat long enough that it started to fully slide off before Eri made a snap decision and grabbed for his hat while making a somersalt and quickly replaced it upon Kenji's head before tucking in and rolling along the ground uncaring if she unhorsed herself in the process.

As her teamates and former mount stared at her in suprise on the ground, she knew that Kenji was still insecure as far as his image was concerned. She could see that Harima was very suprised by her action as the other two looked on in shock, but at the moment she was a little banged up. She rubbed her lower back and tailbone a little to make sure it was still there.

"Ojou, you ok?" Harima stood behind her, concerned. Inside he admitted that it had probably been wrong of him to wear any hat today, but considering he'd just had his head shaved the day before. He wasn't all that used to having no hair. So when Eri got back up and turned around with a rather dark look on her face. Kenji attempted to ward off the coming storm. "Look Ojou, I realize that it was wrong of me to even wear a hat to begin with here and the very least I should've done was take it off beforehand. I realize that what you just did would unneeded if I had simply sidelined my hat today."

Eri paused to process his words, then smiled to him. "Apology accepted Harima-kun. Could you help me to the nurses station please?"

Kenji nodded and walked with Eri as the other two guys shrugged and went toward their respective friends.

Harima walked alongside Eri quietly, "I don't particularly care for this new nurse," He started to explain. "So I'll just wait outside if that's ok with you."

Eri nodded and soon she was inside the nurses office with Kenji outside. After five minutes she returned, "I've got a race to run, I can't be sidelined for it."

Harima nodded as he travelled beside her. "Never give up Ojou-chan," He encouraged, not noticing the pinkness to her cheeks as he spoke. "I'll be rooting for you from beside the finish line Eri, no matter what happens, I want you to finish the race okay?"

"Hai." Eri was astonished that he'd used her first name for the first time ever. _"Focus on the race."_ She told herself.

"Looks like the next event is due to start, remember what I said Ojou. Go get em!" said Kenji before he departed. Eri stared after him until Mikoto poked her arm.

"Hey, you up to the race?"

Eri smirked, "Of course I am! Let's do it."

The intercom blared, "All runners to their places please. Repeat, all runners to their places on track. The race starts in one minute."

Eri went to her place on the track and started to stretch as best she could. She grimaced at the momentary tenseness and firmed up her expression. _"Harima-kun is counting on me to do my best, and for me, that equals winning. This leg just has to hold out for that long." _She heard the starter gun go off and took several deep breaths before assuming her position. She knew that Sagano would be handing off to her soon and took a deep breath. _"I can do this."_ She repeated to herself for the umpteenth time, _"I will not fail my friends, nor will I fail Kenji-kun. I must do this!"_

She felt the baton enter her hand from Sagano and took off as fast as she could. Finding out that running on a weak ankle wasn't the best of ideas, but relentlessly she raged at herself. _"My feet feel like they're lead weights, but I must-"_ She winced as a twitch of pain shot through her leg and strained to continue.

Kenji watched the blonde ponytail silently, attempting to channel his own drive and energy telepathically into Sawachika. _"Come on Eri, you can do this! Don't give up! Only 50 meters to go."_

Determination ruled Eri's facial features as she tried her best to ignore the pain and keep going. She knew the others were catching up to her with every step she took. Her mouth became a hard line as she rounded the final turn. _"I will do this. 40 meters to go, come on, please!" _She spotted Harima in the red jacket by the finish line and a surge of energy hit her.

Harima was tense with anticipation when, at fifteen meters from the finish....

Eri's foot landed wrong and she was falling. _"Dammit!" _She made her way up to her hands and knees and started looking for the baton, she found it as the other runners passed her. She had the sense to let them go by before rising and with the baton in hand, walked accross the finish line.

Harima draped his jacket over her shoulders, "We're going to the nurses office." He said in a don't argue tone. This was much to the suprise of Mikoto and Tenma, who had hurried over to check on Eri, but were shocked to find Eri being helped by Harima towards the nurses office again.

After Eri came out of the office wearing a bandage around her ankle. Harima quietly walked with her, "Perhaps you don't like me around this much Ojou, but I'm starting not to care what others think. If they see us together, then they see us together, it really can't be helped. Anyway Ojou-chan, this next race is for you."

Eri stood by the fence and slowly sat down as she watched Kenji move towards the track. _"Do I love him?"_ The thought came to her suddenly, causing her to pull the jacket tighter around her. _"Harima, don't lose."_

E.4.N

I hope I'm writing Eri and Harima as close to their general action/reaction base as possible. In my mind, they generally act without thinking toward eachother very much. I might be wrong in thinking that, but most of the time, neither of them prepare for interactions with each other. Those just seem to happen on the moment. I do apologize for heavily excluding writing other characters in, but I felt that it was best to focus on these two characters rather then try to include the entire main character cast. Anyway, I've got at least one more chapter to go. Feedback is good, encouragement is greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading and please review.


	5. A Firelight Confession and Epilogue

Congrats to Jin Kobayashi for such a great and inspiring series! [He owns it]

Harima went to where he was supposed to start the event from and looked back to where Eri was. He was thinking about her, recalling the first time he'd helped her in the rain. He wondered why he had gone and helped her, maybe it had to do with the fact fact his parents were not among the living. He frowned at himself for not taking the opportunity to say anything, but supposed that was water long under the bridge.

He heard the starting gun go off and mentally started his own countdown as he began stretching a bit. He didn't bother watching as Imadori screwed up their lead, he had better things to do like think of a certain blonde.

He had to focus however, _"I must win, for 2-C, for myself, and for Ojou-chan." _He looked back at the rapidly approaching Hanai and got ready to recieve the baton.

"Harima, take the baton! The men of 2-C are counting on you!"

Hanai handed off the baton to Harima who took off as though shot from a gun, the spectators really were awed the amount of speed Harima put on. With no distraction of his hat, Kenji caught up to 2-Ds blonde guy 50 meters from the finish.

He finished 3 meters ahead of 2-D and found himself mobbed by classmates in congratulations. Amidst all the people, he spotted Eri coming towards him with his jacket and hat. Slowly, he made his way toward her. Realizing that something was possibly going to happen, the crowd parted for them to meet.

"Hey Ojou, thank you for taking care of my hat, but the jacket's yours now." He smiled as he took that hat from her head and replaced onto his hairless dome.

Eri was speechless. She had heard of places where the guy giving a girl his named jacket was akin to going steady, and Harima had just given her his jacket to keep. She blushed and swallowed, "T-thank you Harima-kun."

Next thing she knew, Tenma was dragging her over to a secluded area with Mikoto tagging along. "Time for the Inquisition Eri!" Sawachika groaned.

Later on, in a darkened area, Harima sat gazing at the people dancing around the fire. His thoughts had returned to that weird dream from the night before. _"Do I love her? She is beautiful, both in and out. I may not know her that well, but I do believe that I have fallen for her..." _Kenji continued thinking unaware the subject of his thoughts loomed over him.

Eri gazed upon the guy whom she'd come to trust in a sort of crazy way. With him, there wasn't any notions or real expections in how they communicated. At least up until he had allowed her to keep his jacket anyway. _"Does he love me like I have come to love him?" _She watched his eyes as they swam back into focus.

Harima gazed up into what a part of him refered to as heavenly amber eyes. "Ojou-chan, you look beautiful."

Eri couldn't stop herself from becoming the shade of an apple at his quiet words. "Thank you K-Kenji-kun. You're certainly handsome yourself." She held out her hand to him again, "Dance with me."

Harima gazed into the amber pools before him, "With my bald head, and your leg?"

"Appearances are just that Harima-kun. No one came over to laugh or make fun of you did they?" Sawachika smiled as Kenji reached up to take her hand.

"No." Kenji admitted as he straightened up to look into her eyes yet again after glancing at the distant dance going on.

"That's because it is not what one may wear or seem like in public Kenji, but it is the inside that people really look at and appreciate." Eri winced from an ankle twinge as she stepped closer and spoke quietly, shifting her gaze to his eyes. "Somewhere along the course of this semester, you showed me that the people around Japan aren't all sex crazed perverts. Maybe it was that first time sharing an umbrella with you, but I started to realize that there was more to you then what you showed." She paused to regain her breath, then looked again up into his eyes. "Not too long ago, I realized that I was interested in you, romantically interested. And you know what Harima? I actually never planned to tell you this here, but its coming out into the open Harima-kun. I love you Kenji Harima."

Time seemed to stop for Harima as he digested and processed her words, then he spoke quietly, ignoring those afar who were begining to look their way. "Eri-chan, That's a hellava thing to say you know, but that rings true for me as well. I love you too. Now let us dance."

Eri smiled and giggled as Harima pulled her into a dance routine, the two of them not noticing Akira and her seemingly ever present camera.

A little later, Harima gazed down to Eri again and gently kissed her lips. He smiled at her suprised face, "Thanks to you Ojou-chan, I had the best day today."

Eri blushed and moved to repay him in kind, standing up on her tip toes to kiss back. Unaware that Takano had again taken their picture.

The next day Eri walked into class with caution due to her ankle. She first set her stuff on her desk and then noticed the group of boys around Harima's desk. She paused and listened to get a small clue as to why they were gathered around Harima's desk like that.

"..Yeah, they looked great dancing together..."

"Harima and Sawachika certainly caught people's attention...."

"Hey Eri, glad to see you." Tenma smiled as her entire group of girlfriends was now complete. The boys respectfully moved away from Harima's desk as the girls approached.

Eri went full crimson as the inscription on the desk became recognizable and the memories of yesterday came flooding back.

Tenma glowed with hyperactive happiness, "I'm so happy for you Eri! You and Harima deserve to be together!"

The blonde sighed and closed her eyes, "We are together Tenma." Amidst turbocharged questions from her friends, she held up a hand for quiet. "Listen, what I just said is true. I confessed to him during the dance and he accepted and confessed in return."

"Wow Eri, that's so romantic." Tenma went into a daydream over Karasuma as Mikoto kept asking stuff.

"Did you like plan to confess."

Eri shook her head, "No, really the words just came out." She dipped her head a bit and glanced at the floor and continued in a quiet voice. "It just felt like the right time Mikoto, there was really no plan, the words slipped out of their own accord." She looked and smiled slightly, "It was far better the first time he confessed to me." Both long time friends chuckled at that.

"That must've been really awkward for you then, that first time."

"It was," Eri admitted, nervously playing with the end of her ponytail. "But now its been properly done and he is m-my boyfriend." She blushed on saying those words, but she was glad she could say them.

"Hey Harima! Come on and kiss your girlfriend goodmorning!"

Eri went crimson with embarrassment as she turned and found Harima at the door of the classroom, also sharing a similar shade of red. "TENMA! Shut up!"

Harima slowly walked over to his seat and looked at the couple inscription and then looked up at Eri. "Did you sleep well Eri-chan?" He fixed his eyes on Tenma, "I have to thank you Tenma-san. You've helped me out greatly and encouraged me to do things for myself. I was blind till I took the shades off for good." He let his eyes come to rest on Eri, "There was someone out there for me in Eri, and I'm happy today because of what happened last night."

Eri blushed and placed a quick kiss on Kenji's forehead, "Thank you Kenji-kun." As the class bell rang.

It was a good day for them both, and it led to a steady and solid relationship.

* * *

_Epilogue_

A couple weeks later Harima met Eri's parents. It did turn out well in the end.

Eri and Kenji remained a steady couple till after high school was out. Then a wedding took place afterwards with the two of them heading off to the same college.

After they were done with schooling, the Harimas moved back to Yagami to take up residence in Eri's old mansion. Soon after that, they had their first child, a daughter which they named Tenma.

Due to both Kenji's background as a deliquent and Eri's sporadic times with her father. The two both invested in the local community with their jobs. They did have a son whom for unknown reasons got the name Hanai. Both Eri and Kenji tried their best to bring up their children the way they envisioned in a world where parents seemed to be devalued and individual choice was promoted. Throughout the Harima household's life, as Eri and Kenji grew older. They never stopped communicating with eachother.

Yet, as the globe rotates on its axis, so too must life go on. When Hanai and Tenma Harima were in their early twenties, a phone call from the police irrevocably changed their lives.

"Hello, is Harima Tenma there?"

"This is her." The daughter of Kenji and Eri Harima replied, motioning for her brother to turn off the television.

"We are sorry to report this to you Ms Harima, but both of your parents were killed when their helicopter suffered a mechanical failure and crashed."

"W-what?! Hold on, I'll let you speak to my brother." Tenma handed the phone to her anxious brother while she went to find the box of tissues.

"Hello? This is Harima Hanai speaking."

"As I told your sister Mr Harima. Your parents died in the crash of their helicopter earlier today."

Hanai Harima sunk into the chair his sister had just vacated, his world had turned upside down. "You're n-not joking?"

"No sir, the police do not normally joke around."

"Thank you for the news." Hanai woodenly hung up the phone and turned to embrace his now wailing sister. Just thirty minutes into the future, their parents were supposed to take them to the movies that night on one of the family's bi-weekly outings.

A bit later, Hanai and Tenma sat with a friend of their parents, Akira Takano, going through photo albums. A page was turned and Akira pointed out and explained the picture to the two young adults.

"This was a picture that I myself took long ago, of your parent's first kiss...."

The two children gazed at the gravestone in the Harima back garden, having been expertly sculpted. It captured the likeness of Kenji Harima and Eri S. Harima as they had been as teenagers. One the badass deliquent, and the seemingly aloof rich girl. Together in death as they had been in life.

COMPLETED

I do apologize for the ending, but I felt it was only fitting for them to remain together throughout life. I hope you enjoyed this story, some of which even has made me sad writing this ending. In some parts of our minds, we want to believe that romantic love is truly forever, but only in our hearts and minds is it actually forever. Long live Eri Sawachika and Kenji Harima!


End file.
